Compressor Surge Suppression by Second-Order Sliding Mode Control Technique

Abstract Surge is one of the two main dynamic instabilities that can occur in compressor systems (the other is the rotating stall) preventing their satisfactory operation and being potential cause of serious damages. In this paper we consider a Close Coupled Valve (CCV) as actuator, and we suggest the use of a second-order sliding-mode (2-SM) technique for the active control of the surge phenomenon. We refer to the Moore-Greitzer model with cubic compressor characteristics, and we show that the proposed technique can drive the system towards a stable operating point by rejecting a significant class of persistent pressure and flow disturbances acting on the system. Furthermore, the perfect knowledge of the compressor and load characteristics is not required to design the controller.